2014 Nobel Prize In Physics Awarded To the Inventors of the Blue LED

grouchomarxist writes with word that "The 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura, the inventors of the blue LED." From the organization's press release: When Isamu Akasaki, Hiroshi Amano and Shuji Nakamura produced bright blue light beams from their semi-conductors in the early 1990s, they triggered a fundamental transformation of lighting technology. Red and green diodes had been around for a long time but without blue light, white lamps could not be created. Despite considerable efforts, both in the scientific community and in industry, the blue LED had remained a challenge for three decades. They succeeded where everyone else had failed. Akasaki worked together with Amano at the University of Nagoya, while Nakamura was employed at Nichia Chemicals, a small company in Tokushima. Their inventions were revolutionary. Incandescent light bulbs lit the 20th century; the 21st century will be lit by LED lamps. White LED lamps emit a bright white light, are long-lasting and energy-efficient. They are constantly improved, getting more efficient with higher luminous flux (measured in lumen) per unit electrical input power (measured in watt). The most recent record is just over 300 lm/W, which can be compared to 16 for regular light bulbs and close to 70 for fluorescent lamps. As about one fourth of world electricity consumption is used for lighting purposes, the LEDs contribute to saving the Earth's resources. Materials consumption is also diminished as LEDs last up to 100,000 hours, compared to 1,000 for incandescent bulbs and 10,000 hours for fluorescent lights. The LED lamp holds great promise for increasing the quality of life for over 1.5 billion people around the world who lack access to electricity grids: due to low power requirements it can be powered by cheap local solar power.

Comments

Re:As well they should.

[fuzzyfuzzyfungus]

I've spent many a joyful hour gazing at the blue LED. My little blue pals.

It is a pity that their work inspired one of the most horrible trends in consumer electronics design... Seriously, the power light, on the front of the TV, where I'll be staring directly into it while trying to watch something?

Blue is pretty much necessary for LED illumination that doesn't look like some sort of emergency-power-failsafe-lighting scene; but damn is it ever overused...

Re:Useful but physics?

[Khyber]

If you can't see how this advances the science of physics (Auger effect is now fairly understood as a side effect of this) I can't help you.

Useful but physics?

[Anonymous Coward]

This was a big breakthrough in condensed matter and optical physics. We learned a lot about how materials doping effects the bandgaps through the development of these GaN/InGaN diodes. The blue LEDs have also been used to build cheap 405nm solid-state lasers for quantum optics experiments without the need for frequency doublers. Nobel prizes in physics usually go to a discovering that generates a lot of follow-up research and shifts the field. Blue LEDs did that in both materials/condensed matter and optics.

Re:Worst physics nobel

[Khyber]

I'm just going to put this out there; you must be REALLY ignorant of what the blue LED has done for optics, solid-state lasers, understanding the Auger effect, crop production under artificial lighting, photobiology, understanding the circadian rhythm, and a whole slew of other things if you think this isn't worthy of a Nobel.

This invention SERIOUSLY helped humanity along.